DARK KNIGHT: Volume 3- FROZEN ENIGMAS
by MegaSam777
Summary: Three months after Batman VS Superman, Bruce Wayne's life has changed. But when two new villains begin causing panic and chaos with the gifts of intellect and science, his life is suddenly thrust into a dark path with no easy escape. The limits of the Batman will be tested as he must fight harder than ever before to truly defeat his worst enemy, his own dark secrets and regrets.
1. Charcoal

*** This is the third _official _DARK KNIGHT story and I stress again... it is the sequel to Batman VS Superman so if you haven't read that story, please do as things may be hard to understand in this one. So yes, The main villains will be the Riddler (renamed Enigma because I hate his name) and Mr. Freeze (also renamed, this time just Freeze for simplicity and less of a camp feel) but there will be plenty surprises along the way. I will say again that this story completes the loose arc that can be seen from the first DARK KNIGHT story all the way through Batman VS Superman that finishes the beginnings of Batman. After this story (as you'll see verrrry soon), the pace will change and more characters will be introduced (Robin?) and the storylines will become more complex.**

**Just to let all of you know, I _do _have the entire story planned out in detail and I know all of you will greatly enjoy the adventures that Batman and Co. have to come. These next stories will be very fast-paced and will take less time to write as I have them planned out almost in their entirety. These last four have taken a long time because it's always harder to start out a hero's journey rather than continue on with it. Also, expect a few more short stories in the coming weeks that will increase the universe and make it feel lived in. I'm so excited to kick off the DARK KNIGHT: Part Two- RISE and it will be coming very soon. Thanks for reading! I love you all!**

* * *

"Please…you don't have to do this!" screamed the woman as she was attached to the stage platform with shackles on her hands and feet.

The spotlight was fixated on her and the man on the microphone gave a small laugh, cutting off the microphone and getting out of his office. He walked down the metal staircase and swung his long golden cane around as he jumped off.

"Dana, do you…_know_ why you are here?" the man said, walking around the platform as Dana struggled.

The man wore a dark green suit, purple gloves, a pair of dark purple sunglasses that covered the top of his head completely, and a green-dyed fedora. He had bright white teeth and brown tuffs of hair stuck out from his hat. He walked around the platform until he was in front of Dana, where she looked straight at him as he stroked her tan legs with his cane.

"W-why?" Dana said, tears streaming down her face.

"Because…" the man replied, twirling the cane around his hand and swinging it across her chest with swift precision.

"You, Ms. Dana Tremblay Green…are a murderer and a liar."

"What?" Dana yelled, her voice echoing in the warehouse.

"Shush!" the man replied, putting his gloved index finger to his mouth.

"Seven months ago, you were driving from Metropolis to Gotham on the highway. Moving here, am I right?"

"Yes. I recently got a job at the hospital." Dana replied.

"Well, on that _icy_ night, you rear-ended a man driving a Buick. Right?" the man asked.

"What?" Dana stammered.

"There you are…lying again." the man laughed in an aggravated state.

"Okay! I hit him and he flew off the side of the bridge!" Dana said.

"And did you stop?"

"No."

"Why? Hm?"

"I had- I had to!" Dana screamed, tears coming down her face again.

"You had to leave that man to die from the cold?" the man responded, pulling Dana's hair and looking in her eyes as he jumped on top of her.

Dana screamed and the man covered her mouth, licking the side of her face.

"Now, tell me why you had to leave him."

"I'm an illegal! My friend gave me a fake ID and I needed a job. She said she would help me!" Dana said.

"Oh… you couldn't risk getting in trouble, am I right?" the man said.

Dana nodded and tried to jerk back as the man slid down her body and felt her legs with his hands as he looked at her Hispanic, fit body. He smiled at her and switched his cane into his other hand as he ascended the staircase once again, slamming the door to his office. Dana looked around the cold warehouse and saw a giant crate above her, feeling slight heat.

"What is that?" Dana screamed, nodding to the crate.

"Oh, just your possible way out." the man said through the microphone.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"I'm going to give you a chance to live. Like me, we all have our faults. And we all deserve a second chance." he replied. Dana nodded slowly, the tears stopping.

"All you have to do is solve a simple…riddle."

Dana stopped breathing.

"A riddle?" she asked.

"Yes."

"Are you ready?" the man asked, clearing his throat.

Dana nodded, staring at the crate.

"What's black when you receive it, red when you use it, and white when you're all through with it?" he asked.

Dana was silent, thinking as hard as she could, hoping something would come to mind.

"Would you like me to repeat the question?"

"No!" she screamed, starting to sweat from the tension.

She thought that it was a fruit that you peel, a newspaper, or… oh my God, she didn't know. She began to cry again and saw the shadow of the man through his office window a floor up. He tipped his hat further and stood on his tiptoes, awaiting an answer. He put his hand on a lever on the ceiling and looked at Dana, clicking his tongue. She knew she had lost.

"Do you give up, Dana?" the man asked, a slight chuckle in his voice.

"Please. Please don't hurt me." she begged, crying uncontrollably.

"I'm sorry, Dana. You knew the risks." The man said.

"Charcoal." he continued plainly, pulling down the lever.

Suddenly, she saw the crate fall towards her, dumping over a ton of burning charcoal as it showered her, burning the flesh off of her skin and coals landing in her eye sockets and mouth, causing excruciating pain. As she slowly died, through her screaming, she heard the man utter a single phrase.

"Thanks for playing."


	2. Tech

"I really do want to give my own... personal apology to all of America and not some speech that was written for me. I have felt sick to my core about the magnet attempt and believe me, I've realized that without the help of Batman and Superman... I would've caused the deaths of countless people. I was arrogant and hungry to receive what I thought I deserved. And I was wrong." Alexander Luthor said with a quivering voice as he spoke on the National News Channel during an interview.

Bruce Wayne rolled his eyes and continued to listen to Lex's "heartfelt" speech on the interview while Lucius finished writing a technology grant for a new branch of Applied Sciences.

"You think he's being sincere?" Lucius Fox, CEO of Wayne Enterprises asked as he signed the paper and stuck his pen in his breast pocket.

"God, no. He's only doing this for the political aspect. He planned those people to die just so he could build a better company. That makes _me_ sick to _my_ core." Bruce replied while shaking his head.

"Good. I was hoping that becoming Superman's pal didn't soften you up." Lucius Fox said with a smile as he pushed in his chair and watched the rest of the interview with Bruce.

"You're funny." Bruce said with a slight chuckle.

"After what happened with the magnet experiment, I've decided that the only proper way I can help this country is to regain its trust and work to make it a better place for everyone." Lex continued.

"You mean your election?" the T.V. host asked.

"Yes. I'm currently beginning my campaign as President Hockner is about done with his term-." Lex replied before Bruce pushed down on the remote and turned off the T.V.

"Okay, enough of you. You ready?" Bruce asked as he turned to his friend and tech specialist.

Throughout the past nineteen months, Lucius had been the sole provider of the protection Bruce needed every night he went out to fight crime and patrol Gotham City. In the brutal months following Bruce's return to Gotham, Lucius had provided military armor, reinforced vehicular equipment for his car, now humorously called the Batmobile by Alfred and himself, and various crime scene tools that were at least a decade ahead of current law enforcement technologies. Fox had also provided Bruce with a Nomex-weaved Batsuit that helped in protection against the pyromaniac known as Firefly and he had most recently put the finishing touch on the aerial/underwater vehicle officially called the WS-47 but dubbed by Superman as the Batplane. All in all, Lucius was the greatest help in the birth of the Batman besides Bruce's loyal butler and himself.

"What do you have to show me?" Bruce asked as he and Lucius entered the elevator and headed to the lobby.

"Well, just a few new gadgets and advancements. The first of which is a new attachment for your cowl called the I-."

"Not yet. I want to be surprised." Bruce interrupted with a smile.

Lucius nodded his head and sighed as the elevator dinged and they headed to the car outside. The men shivered from the chilly wind and Bruce watched as a few stray snowflakes brushed by in the wind.

"Get a new company car, Mr. Fox?" Bruce asked as he sat in the new black car that had leather seat and a mini-fridge with refreshments.

"Well, after the new deal started with Perry's owned company, Perry Consolidated, I got a raise." Lucius replied with a smile as he gave the driver the signal to head forward to the WayneTech building.

"Nice. Heard anything from Luthor?" Bruce asked.

"Nope. Just an apology letter delivered from e-mail about two weeks ago. He doesn't want anything else to do with us." Lucius responded.

"Good. I'm glad all it took was for a giant rock to almost destroy Metropolis before Luthor backed off." Bruce said as he looked out the window and watched the people on the street.

As they continued to ride to WayneTech, Bruce's phone buzzed in his left jacket pocket and he was pleasantly surprised at the caller. It was Julie. His semi-girlfriend. She had called two months earlier to tell Bruce she was thinking about moving out West took look for more work. He was happy for her as he knew she would be safe from heartbreak or danger. But even then, he missed her company as she truly understood how Bruce really was and he could connect with her easily. He answered as the company car approached the parking lot at WayneTech.

"Hello?" Bruce said.

"Hi, Bruce! How are you?" Julie replied with a smile in her voice.

"I'm... I'm good. Actually, I'm just about to go to a meeting but I have a minute." he said.

"Good. I just wanted to ask if you could have dinner with me tomorrow at the Royal Hotel. I have a reservation and I want to see you." Julie said, her voice sounding shaky and nervous.

Bruce gave a real smile and cleared his throat as he replied.

"I would love to. Tell me the time and I'll clear my schedule if anything comes up."

"Really? You won't have a surprise meeting?" she asked in a sarcastic voice.

"No. I promise." Bruce said.

"Sounds good. I'll see you soon." Julie said before hanging up.

Bruce stuck his phone back in his pocket and nodded at Lucius as the car stopped and the CEO opened the door. They both got out quickly and ran across the cold street until they got to the door of WayneTech. Bruce shut the door behind them and winked at the pretty secretary before resting a second on his cane. Lucius whipped out his keycard and Bruce grabbed his from his pocket, scanning the eliminated pieces of plastic against the wall scanner and watching the lower level door become unlocked. The metal door slid open and the two men walked down the stairs as Bruce observed all the different sections and rooms as he always did.

"We're going to Project Room B3 to the right." Lucius said, pointing to the room's entrance as they pulled their keycards out once again.

After going through the scanner procedure once again, the door flew open and Lucius let Bruce walk in first. Bruce was immediately impressed with all the tech in the room and gave a smile when he looked at Lucius. He shut the door and switched on the main lights; the giant hallway revealing itself and all the technology lighting up. Bruce saw the desk with a boxed up refitted grapnel gun and various batarangs with different functions and picked up the batarangs, finding them light but extremely sharp. He looked behind him and saw a cowl that looked similar to his current one except with a carbon exterior and a pure black tint. Lucius walked over to it and handed it to Bruce, offering for him to try it on.

"What's different about it?" Bruce asked, leaning his cane against the desk as he walked over to Lucius.

"You'll see." Lucius replied as Bruce put the mask over his head.

Bruce liked the fitting design and could tell that it felt a bit heavier like it had more power inside it. He looked at Lucius and was amazed that his vision wasn't at all impaired by the white contact slits fitted inside the eyeholes. His peripheral vision was kept intact and the slits blocked out his eyes, preserving his own emotion and hiding it from the enemy.

"That's not all. Light tap your right index finger against your temple." Lucius said after a moment.

The second he tapped it, a yellow tint filled his vision and a display popped up in Bruce's right eye. It showed a blinking red dot on a blueprint layout of the WayneTech building. He turned his head toward Lucius and immediately, three displays popped up around his body. One showed his heartbeat- normal- another showed his estimated body temperature, and the last one was focused on his face. When he looked at Lucius' face, a facial recognition scan quickly showed an I.D. picture of Lucius Fox, the CEO of Wayne Enterprises.

"That's incredible. I never could've imagined technology like this for years." Bruce said.

"The computer chip inside was made for undercover C.I.A. operatives to keep tabs on their targets and suspects. It was used for a month but the government didn't think the program was worth creating a chip that cost over 600 grand per unit. I've made some modifications to fit your use but I highly doubt you'll find a better tool. I've contacted Alfred and he has the mobile GCPD database chip ready for insertion. With the I.V.F. and that chip, you will never have to wait for Alfred to get information from the police." Lucius replied.

"Wow. This is great. What's it called?"

"The I.V.F. The Information Vision Feature." Lucius answered.

"Great." Bruce said, sitting the cowl back on its stand and making sure his hair wasn't messed up.

"So," Lucius said with a smile.

"Wanna see what's next?"


	3. Fan Of Puzzles

"It's taken us awhile to put everything back together after the Joker escaped but this time, Gordon... I'm making you a Captain. You don't have any say in the manner. We need you. We need you to guide this city. They need something else besides grown men in capes." Police Commissioner Loeb said as Detective Jim Gordon sat in the chair opposite his desk.

"Sir, I don't know. I don't want to leave Bullock and although the pay is better, I don't want to risk my family's safety." Gordon replied.

"Listen, detective. I've risked a lot for my job and I receive death threats monthly. It just goes with the title. You are a leader, Gordon. You are a leader and I can't have you trying to lead as a beat cop. You need this authority and I'm giving it to you without question. Please, Jim." Loeb pleaded, his voice setting a soothing tone.

Gordon was shocked that his superior had called him by his first name and could now tell that he was being serious. He was begging for help. Gotham had been receiving optimism not seen in years due to the surprising team-up between Superman and Batman. While still technically a vigilante and a criminal, the city now cheered when the Batman took out a murderer or put a child molester behind bars. Even the GCPD had softened up toward the vigilantism, much to the chagrin of Commissioner Loeb who despised the Dark Knight's actions.

"Okay. I'll do it." Gordon said.

Loeb gave a nod of relief and stood from his chair as Gordon followed. The commissioner held out his hand and Gordon shook it firmly while giving a reflective nod.

* * *

"Hey, Harvey... you're never going to believe what just happened." Gordon said as he walked over to his and Detective Bullock's shared cubicle and flicked his partner's candy wrapper from his laptop frame.

"You can tell me on the way..." Bullock replied, putting on his trench coat and grabbing his keys.

"We've got a murder to go see."

"Where at?" Gordon asked.

"One of those abandoned shipment warehouse. Apparently, it's pretty intricate." his partner responded as they gathered their things and headed to the garage.

* * *

"Oh, God. What have we got here?" Gordon asked as he stopped short of a still-smouldering piece of charcoal and kicked up the ashes from the crime scene.

The sight was truly sickening. The victim was a woman. Mid-20's, black hair, fairly tall. Most of the skin around her face was burned to a crisp and her mouth, eye sockets with dried-out eyeballs, and right cheek were filled with sunken in charcoal rocks. Her mouth was open-wide in a permanent scream and her face disturbed the men and women with the odd sight of charcoal rocks where her eyes should've been. She had suffered an extremely painful death. Probably lasted two to three minutes before passing out from the pain and shock. Gordon looked up as Bullock was about to light a cigarette but found it a bit ironic and disrespectful.

"The rocks were deposited from that container. The chains are new and the container has no bumps or scratches. Our murderer planned this. Recently." Gordon said as he observed the charcoal container.

"Yeah. He's an artist. What do you think his goal was?" Bullock asked.

"Well, It could possibly be a-." Gordon began before Officer Montoya bumped in through the crowd of cops.

"It's a game to him. He was trying to give her a fair chance of survival." she said.

"And what makes you say that?" Bullock replied, giving her a stern look.

"He left a tape. I'm not that good of a detective." Montoya laughed.

Gordon shook his head and walked up the stairs with the young officer and Bullock. When they entered the room, an expertly-made metal object sat on the desk beside the CD player with a tape deck. The shape was a question mark and it was covered in thick layers of green paint. Gordon put gloves on from his trenchcoat and picked up the question mark. He was puzzled that there was no end point at the bottom of the object and turned it around, seeing a saying written with black permanent marker.

"What's it say?" Bullock asked as Montoya put the tape in the player.

"What gets wetter and wetter... the more that it dries?" Gordon replied.

"A riddle? Really? That's new." Montoya said as she began to think for a moment.

Gordon flicked his eyes to the top of his head and began to think. What got wetter and wetter the more that it dried? That didn't even make any sense. But the solution to riddles were always something simple and right under your nose. He watched as the two officers were thinking as well. If something dried but still got wet... what would it be? A road? No. Your mouth? No. A... towel? A towel!

"Towel! A towel gets wetter and wetter the more that it _dries_." Gordon blurted out, enunciating the phrase differently so the officers would understand.

"Wow. Look at the brain..." Bullock said with a smile.

Montoya looked around for a towel and backed up when she found it. It was laid on the carpet. Right under Gordon's feet. She gulped loudly and pushed Bullock back as he almost stepped on it as well.

"Detective. Don't move." Montoya said, eyeing the pink towel below him.

Gordon began tense and heard and moved his head downward slowly, following Montoya's movements as she got down on her stomach and slowly lifted the towel with the tip of her ASP baton. She looked around and saw a small dark object almost under Gordon's foot. She pulled put her flashlight and clicked the button, seeing that it was an SD card used for a camera. She grabbed it with her middle and index finger and pulled it out. Gordon and Bullock looked at her when she stood up and held the SD card to the light.

"I believe that's the end of your question mark, Detective." Montoya said as she handed the green-painted SD card to Gordon.

Gordon placed the SD card right below the metal question mark and gave a sigh.

"Wow. This guy's a fan of puzzles." Gordon said after a pause.

"Get somebody to bring me a laptop." Bullock said to Montoya as the tape played.

As the scratchy tape rolled through, a unique voice came through the speakers interlaced with the disturbing screams of the now-dead woman. The man cleared his throat and came closer to the microphone as he gave a chuckle.

"Hello, GCPD. How is your morning going? Probably not well. Have you stained your intellectual abilities yet? Well, let me insult you even more by telling you the victims name and the reason for her death. Her fake name was Dana Tremblay Green. She was an illegal immigrant from Mexico and I've found her real name... a one Juliet Cortez. She had a car accident back in March coming from Metropolis and accidentally hit a man on a bridge. Ice was on the road that night and she watched as his car slammed right through the side of the bridge. Being a fake U.S. citizen, she went on, not wanting to be questioned. This woman is a murderer. How did I obtain this information? Well... let's just say I'm gifted. Anyhow, I'm now a part of this city's new clean-up plan. Until I can see the police are smart enough to _properly_ solve and fight crime... I'll be taking over and doing what should be done. The Batman won't kill and that's why he'll fail. I"m a true hero. Taking out the trash. I'll be up to date with you all. Have fun with my first brain-teaser!" the man said before the tape ended.

"Jim," Bullock asked.

"What are we dealing with?"


	4. Colder Than Ice

"Alright, Fries. Make your offer and we'll see if we agree." the 205-pound dealer asked as he and Victor Fries hid in an alley as the sun was beginning to sink behind the horizon.

A small drizzle had begin to decorate the city and Victor flipped up the hood on his jacket, now completely looking the part of a petty criminal. Victor was forty-eight and a cryogenics specialist with a background in chemistry. He wasn't fit for the criminal lifestyle but with his wife's condition growing worse; he didn't have the money or the government funding to continue keeping her alive. She had been diagnosed with a rare disease called MacGregor's Syndrome, a disease that destroyed a person's immune system and caused their organs to fail at a painful rate. Nora had signed a contract that would allow her to be frozen for a maximum of five years so Victor could work on a cure. But now, Nora's time was running out and he was nowhere close to finding a cure. If Nora stayed in her frozen state any longer, Victor and his cryo team risked giving her irreversible brain damage.

Victor had been executing a series of heists over the last year but two months ago, a death and a visit from the Batman killed his plans for stealing more containers of liquid nitrogen being used to cleanse the freezing chamber where Nora was being stabilized in. She was unconscious, her heart rate lowered to a near-death extent and her mind left floating comatose. Before her diagnosis, she and Victor had been happily married for 12 years. Nora was his entire life. Everyday, he worked almost 20 hours, studying hard and rebuilding his equipment so Nora's life could be saved. Ms. Pamela Isley was a botanist who had teamed up with Victor at Bruce Wayne's request, given their previous relationship where Bruce had dated her sister, Francine. With her expertise in foreign plants, Bruce and the rest of Wayne Enterprises were hoping that she could find a plant that could cure or subside the effects of MacGregor's Syndrome.

"I have three pounds. 65. That's my deal." Victor said as he pulled the giant plastic bag full of methamphetamine that was as clear as glass.

"Only three pounds? No. Do you know how fast three pounds will go in Gotham? I've got a dozen junkies on this block alone, doc. Not for 65 thou." the dealer replied.

Victor stepped back and shook his head while gripping the bag of meth. He gave a large sigh and backed up, a long stream of water falling from the roof of the building and soaking his hood. He felt his knuckles crack and he slid his left hand past his left pocket, feeling the hard back of the pistol concealed.

"This was a lot to make. Especially since I have a full-time job and I'm making it in my basement." Victor said.

"Well, sorry but this stuff goes bad. Everyone wants a taste, doc."

"Look how pure this is! I deserve the 65, 000! Now!" Victor said, his voice growing louder.

The dealer shoved Victor back and took the bag, holding it up to the smoggy sun, and clicking his tongue.

"It's good. It's good, I'll give you that. But honestly… I'd need like nearly ten pounds for even 50. Time's are tough."

"Really?" Victor said, his voice transforming into a growl.

"It's about to get a lot tougher."

Before the dealer could make a move, Victor punched him hard in the chest and forced him to the ground. He pulled out his pistol and whacked him across the head, his face hitting a filthy puddle. Victor pulled the hammer back and held him up by his hair, the muzzle pressed hard against the dealer's right cheek.

"Doc! This isn't right, man! I gotta make a living too!"

"I'm trying to save my wife and possibly others! I don't want to sell this… this disgusting product but it's my last resort." Victor replied as the rain got harder and thicker.

The dealer gulped loudly and eyed the bag of meth sitting in the puddle with him. He looked up at Victor and watched as he hoisted him up against the brick wall and put the gun against his chin.

"Give me the money now or cease to have a head." Victor growled.

"You wouldn't do it, doc. That's not who you are." the dealer said with confidence.

"Really?" Victor said without emotion.

He fired a round into his upper left thigh and pistol-whipped the dealer across the face as he fell to the ground in pain. He dropped the gun and punched him hard in the face three times before hitting him once in his fresh wound with a boot kick. The dealer screamed loudly and Victor slammed his head into the wall with great force, creating a large cut above his eyes and watching as blood from the scrapes and cuts mixed with the rain that poured down on the men.

"You shot me! Ah!" he cried as Victor picked up his gun and stuffed it back into his pocket.

"I missed the artery. And no one's coming to your rescue in a meth-infested neighborhood so give me the money before I let you bleed out." Victor said.

"Fine. Get my-ow!- my wallet out." the dealer replied, yelling as he held pressure on the bullet wound.

Victor jerked the injured man up and grabbed his wallet inside his leather jacket before tossing him back down. He opened up the main pocket and took out the money, just over 70, 000 dollars. Victor's eyes brightened up and he tossed the empty wallet on the ground, taking all the money and putting it in his pocket. The dealer spit blood at him as he began to walk away and he screamed at the doctor as he left the alley.

"You're cold, doc! Colder than ice, you bastard!"


	5. Exactly What You Saw

"Are you excited for your date, tomorrow, sir?" Alfred asked his ward as he sat in his Batsuit and looked at crime files, narrowing his eyes as he read the latest report on his greatest enemy yet, the infamous Joker.

The Joker had been put into the psychiatric ward of Blackgate Prison and was supposed to receive the death penalty but was saved by one Jonathan Crane, a young doctor who was Bruce's age and had lots of money. For the last three years, Crane had been putting petitions together to renovate the abandoned Arkham Asylum, an infamously dangerous and evil mental hospital that had been closed for sixteen years. Crane's argument was that for him to properly treat his "special care" patients, he and his small team needed a less-dangerous place to conduct their studies and rehabilitation. Bruce didn't trust Crane. He seemed to want to be in control and keep the patients for himself.

"It's not a date. We're just seeing each other. Talking about our lives." Bruce replied.

"Hm. Are you going to tell her that you met an alien and two assassins that are _still _ on the run? I bet that'd stop the dessert real fast." Alfred said as he ducked; a bat flying and screeching over his head.

"You know… we should get those things tamed." Alfred continued.

"No. I need to get you tamed. That much sarcasm can't be healthy." Bruce quipped back, typing in Victor Fries' name in his personal crime folders.

Alfred eyed the man and shook his head. He knew all of what Bruce had told him. Victor looked like an average near-50 male. He had neatly combed black hair with grey highlights around the sides, a round face, and a fairly tall but skinny physique. Alfred had pity on him because of his wife but knew he had made a choice. A bad one.

"Anything new on him?" he asked.

"Nope. But Fries did leave the lab early today. I couldn't track him though. God only knows what he's doing." Bruce said, rubbing his face as he looked at the display clock. 7:32. Time to go out and become the night.

"He's running out of time and he's desperate. He'll starting making messy mistakes. HE's nervous and at the point of no return. I'll talk to Pamela tonight but this has to stop. I've been doing my own research for a cure and I can't find anything out either. Nora's chance is gone. I hate to say it." Bruce said as Alfred walked with him to the militarized vehicle he used, now called the Batmobile due to Superman's comment on the aerial combat craft that Bruce had flew to Metropolis months before.

"Sir, why'd you keep letting him run his program if you knew he was a criminal?" Alfred asked.

"Sometimes… drastic actions must be taken when something threatens what you love most. I understood his pain because that's exactly what I'm doing. I'll talk to you later." Bruce said, placing the IVF enhanced cowl over his face and opening the Batmobile.

* * *

As he drove through the city at high speeds, he turned on his police radio and waited for an emergency to blare through the speakers. The engine rolled calm and quiet even as Batman took a sharp turn to the left and sped down an alley. Water splashed up from a puddle and Batman could feel the pulse of a crack of thunder shot through the hazy dark orange sky. He heard the brief sound of a radio tone and he twisted the touch screen dial and heard the female operator drilling out a crime scene.

"We have a possible rape and assault occurring at 45h Johnson Lane in apartment number 32." the woman said.

Batman was two miles away. He estimated how long the call would take police and he decided to take the risk. He had seen his share of rape victims and women who had been abused by their supposed man protectors. Rape sickened him and was just as bad as murder in his eyes. It destroyed a person and the people around the victim. If he could stop at least one family from being destroyed, Bruce considered his training and hardships well spent.

Batman revved his engine and hit the nitrous as he criss-crossed through traffic and headed towards the location as Alfred called him on the comm.-link that blared through the car's interior speakers.

"Yes?" Batman asked in a calm manner.

"Did you hear about the death-trap murder today?" Alfred replied.

"No. What happened? What do you mean death-trap?" Batman said.

"A woman with a fake ID was strapped to a chair and forced to stay there as a literal ton of burning charcoal was poured on her from a chain-linked container above. The killer is at large and Captain Gordon is going to make a statement."

"_Captain _Gordon?"

"Yes. It seems he received a promotion. About time." Alfred said.

"I'm guessing the crime scene's gone. When's he giving the statement?" Batman asked as he was one mile from the apartment.

"About ten minutes."

"Good." Batman replied.

"I can handle this in five."

* * *

The would-be rapist flew through the patio window at full speed, his ironic wife beater shirt getting cut as shards of glass flew through the air. He landed hard on the stone floor and he screamed for a brief moment and raised his pistol, watching as the black boot broke his wrist and sent the pistol flying into the wall. The dark figure in front of him turned on the patio roof light and grabbed him by the middle of his now red-stained shirt.

"Hm. Third offense now." Batman said as he touched his right temple and looked up and down the rapist's body.

"What?"

"Shut up." Batman said, instantly knocking him out with a sharp punch to the bottom of his jaw on the left side.

Batman looked at the IVF display in his cowl and saw the name flash on the screen followed by a list of arrests and charges. He had two previous assault charges on his girlfriend, amazingly, it was the same woman this time. He was a convicted felon six years before due to a small cocaine smuggling and reeked of "bad-guy" vibes. He looked at the unconscious man on the ground and wanted to punch him a couple extra times if he didn't risk giving him an internal bleed or life-threatening concussion. He turned around and saw the pretty woman with a black eye and another beginning to form. He walked past the broken patio door, the woman backing up on her bed as glass crunched beneath Batman's boots.

The woman held her head in her hands and Batman slowly walked over to her, showing her the knife stuck into the table where seconds before, the rapist had tried to stab his girlfriend and almost succedded if not for Batman's explosive entrance.

"Look at that." he said, pointing to the knife.

"This is the third time known to the authorities but I know there's been more. He's going to jail for a good five years. Now's your chance to improve and move on from this garbage. Do the right thing." Batman said to the woman as she stopped panicking and listened to the Dark Knight.

"What… what am I supposed to tell the cops?" she asked as Batman began to leave the apartment.

"Exactly what you saw. They'll believe you." Batman replied before hopping through the kitchen window where he had sneaked in moments before, gliding into the night.


	6. Time's A Ticking

"I don't know what you're planning but I have connections! They'll kill you. I swear to God they will!" the man yelled as he was strapped inside the bed-like box that sat on the floor of the warehouse with a giant spotlight focused on him.

"Hm. Says the man tied up and trapped in a box." Enigma replied, having a similar set-up in the different warehouse.

Unlike the previous death-trap, Enigma had designed this one differently. Instead of a dark warehouse and sitting up in a close-off section, Enigma now stood on a catwalk that over looked the entire interior. He smiled at his new design and tipped his hat to his latest victim. The microphone hung down near him and he walked over to it, spinning his cane around before clicking the button again.

"What is your name?" Enigma asked.

"Jonathan Summers. The name that you're going to fear when I get out of here!" Summers yelled.

Enigma gave a small laugh and a sigh as he looked at the skylight above him, the grey clouds rolling by, illuminated by the shining moon hidden by the roof. Jon Summers continued to squirm around and kicked the box twice while grunting. Enigma hung onto the railing and leaned over, seeing Summers trying to escape.

"You can't get out. It's simple math, really. The width and weight provide enough distribution that you'll break your ankles long before you try an escape. I'd explain it to you but… time is of the essence. Thought I'd change it up a bit." Enigma said as he clicked the early-1900's style pocket watch and watched the hands begin to spin accordingly to the hidden gears inside.

"What?" Summers asked, his tie flying to one side of his face as he jerked his body upwards.

"You are a very bad man, Mr. Summers. Aren't you?" Enigma asked.

"You wanna find out?" Summers said with an angry chuckle.

Enigma gave a smile and adjusted his purple glasses. He pulled out a pistol and fired a shot at Summers, the bullet zooming into the box and slicing off a piece of Summers' right ear. He screamed in pain slightly and coughed loudly, clearly seeing the dark green, hat-wearing figure. He watched as Enigma blew the trail of smoke away and stuck the pistol back inside his green jacket. He cleared his throat and laughed briefly again.

"Can I explain?" Enigma asked.

"Yes, please!" Summers yelled, feeling a small waterfall of sticky blood collect on the floor.

"It's no mystery that you're a bad man, Mr. Summers. Everyone in Gotham knows of your reputation. You work for Roman Sionis and his crew of numbed-down idiots with a gun in their hand. You were his second-in-command until I took you… out of command." Enigma said.

"Wanna prove your theory?" Summers muttered.

Enigma gave a smile and kicked the ladder out from the edge of the catwalk, the metal hitting the concrete and bouncing up slightly. Enigma scaled down the ladder and hopped off at the third to last step. He walked slowly over to Summer's trap and pulled sixteen photos from the right side of his jacket. He bent down and showed Summers each one of them, watching with a grin as his fear truly set in.

"No. No… there's no way you got a hold of these! Who took them! I demand to know!" Summers yelled, wriggling in his restraints.

"I did. Quite the photographer, aren't I? I especially love the one that shows you blowing the head off the 14-year-old boy for witnessing the drug deal go down. Very appropriate." Enigma said before punching Summers across the jaw.

The photos were a montage of seven murders that Summers had committed in the past three weeks. They showed him running over a former mob enforcer with an eighteen-wheeler, the execution of an innocent boy, and more gruesome acts committed in the slums of Gotham City. Summers was shocked that Enigma got the upper hand and was able to track him down without being noticed. At that moment, he realized that he was dealing with someone dangerous.

"How does it feel to be the wondrous brother of Roman Sionis? Hm? I know that you only share a father but are you close?" Enigma asked as Summers looked at the photos.

"How do you know about that? Nobody knows-."

"About that? Ha. I have deep connections and a brain to work with. You have nothing to hide from me, Mr. Summers. I know about your six years in juvenile detention, the drug arrest, and your mother being killed by Roman. Unofficially, of course." Enigma replied.

"What do you want?" he asked in a quieter voice as his captor pulled the pictures back.

"I want… for you to admit your crimes and play a little game with me." Enigma replied.

"What?" Summers asked in a confused voice.

"Ah! Time's a ticking. I'll explain the rules or we can continue our chit-chat for another 200 seconds. Guess what happens in 200 seconds?" Enigma asked.

"Fine. Tell me the rules." Summers said.

Enigma smiled and looked at Summers with happy glee.

"I ask you a riddle. Plain and simple. You solve it… I give you the chance to escape. If you can't crack it… the trap activates and you die a fearful and painful death. Comprende?" he asked as he climbed the ladder and stood on the catwalk with proud swagger.

"Fine." Summers growled.

"Now… did you kill those people in the photos?"

"Yes."

"Any particular reason?"

"They… they were a threat to our operations. We had to make sure there were no loose ends." Summers revealed.

"Like the enforcer? He quit, didn't he? A family… I believe."

"Johnny wa… Johnny couldn't be trusted. We had to deal with him!"

"Really? I thought it was because his wife had breast cancer. Hm. But, excuse me… I guess you're right." Enigma said in a calm manner.

Summers shook his head and kept that internal clock of 200 seconds in his head. Time was running out.

"Just ask me the goddamn question already!" he yelled.

Enigma laughed and cleared his throat as he turned to his victim.

"The man who makes it… doesn't want it. The man who wants it… doesn't actually use it. And the man who's using it… isn't even aware."

"What? That doesn't make any-." Summers exclaimed before falling silent.

Enigma twisted his head around and sighed softly as he looked at his pocket watch.

"You have exactly 112 seconds. Time's a wasting." Enigma said into the microphone as he watched Summers struggle.

He would've been _very_ surprised if he solved the riddle. It was an easy answer and an ironic one at that. Most people over thought and tried to be ten times as wise when presented with a riddle. Usually the quirkiness and cleverness of a riddle defeated the victim and they fell, ashamed and disappointed. In this case, Summers would fall to his knees and die.

"Would you like me to repeat the riddle?" Enigma asked.

"Yes!"

"The man who makes it does not want it. The man who wants it… doesn't use it. And the man who's using it… isn't even aware."

"The man who…" Summers said as his voice trailed off into a whisper as he could hear the ticking of the watch of his captor.

Over thirty seconds later, Enigma began to hum a happy tune as he paced around the catwalk and pulled the pistol out from his coat, seeing that Summers wasn't paying attention.

"Looks like you need some more stimulation. Let me aid you."

He fired a shot into the air and watched as Summers flinched, small bits of metal flakes and dust falling on him.

"Ah! Hold on!"

"Clock's running out of seconds, Mr. Summers. Hurry up." Enigma said with a cold tone.

Summers panicked and his heart was racing. He had to know the answer. He couldn't die under this little freak's rule. He had to think smart and observe his surroundings. Where was he? A long box? Wait… no man wants it… and no man realizes he uses it. Summers sighed as he looked at Enigma and smiled.

"Coffin! No man wants a coffin and they don't realize they're using it until they're dead!" he yelled to Enigma in victory.

"Hm. Wonderful job, Mr. Summers. You are correct."

Enigma smiled with Summers as he slid down the ladder and approached Summers as he struggled to break through his restraints.

"Okay, I beat your riddle so get me out of here! What were you going to do? Bury me in this coffin?"

"Hm. Yes. You're a smart man, Summers. Smarter than I had thought." Enigma said, pulling out his phone and tossing it inside the coffin as he untied one of the restraints.

Summers eased in relaxation and eyed Enigma as he pulled a lever and suddenly, he slammed the top of the coffin on top of him and locked it tight. Summers screamed in fear and kicked with all his might, not changing a thing. He banged against the top and yelled at Enigma.

"What are you doing? You say you'd let me go!" he screamed through the darkness as the coffin was lowered below the warehouse floor by a mechanical lift that slowly lowered him down.

"No. I said I'd give you the _chance_ to escape. Listen next time…. If there _is _a next time." Enigma laughed.

"Then what's my chance?" Summer yelled as the coffin was over fifteen feet below.

"How fast can you call the cops?" Enigma asked.

Summers eyed the phone and flipped it open, dialing 9-1-1 as fast as he could.

* * *

Enigma walked through the back entrance of the warehouse and took off his hat and gloves, exposing his white skin and dark brown hair that was long over his eyes. He looked around thirty, was of a normal and healthy build, and had a skinny but slightly handsome face. He walked over to his $40,000 car and unlocked the trunk, tossing his hat, gloves, and green suit inside. Underneath the green attire was a famous rock band T-shirt with a pair of blue jeans and an expensive leather belt. Enigma combed his hair over to the side and shut the trunk slowly and quietly.

He went inside his car and shut the door softly, looking in the mirror and taking off his glasses and punching out the purple lens. He tossed them in his glove compartment and pulled out his dark brown leather jacket from the backseat. He sighed as his GCPD detective badge fell out from the interior pocket and he picked it up, sitting it on his dashboard as he slid his jacket on. The name read: Detective Edward Nashton.

A few moments later, his radio blurred on and he picked it up, pretending to sound like he had awoken from a nap.

"Unit GC-32. What's up?" he answered with a yawn.

"Wake up, Nash. We've got a weird kidnap and imprison call. Where are you?" the other officer asked.

"Um… I had a burger about a half hour ago at Bubba Kay's. I'm parked beside it now." Nashton replied.

"Good. You're only a mile away from the scene. It's at Stephen Harkin Shipping Supplies. Remember that old place?" the officer asked.

"Yeah, on Benevue, right?" Nashton asked, turning the key and pulling the car into park.

"Yeah. Wait for me and Jones."

"Got it."


	7. Carpe Diem

"Carpe diem, Master Bruce. Seize the day!" Alfred said loudly, waking up his ward as Bruce pulled a pillow over his head.

"Ugh… I'll seize it later." Bruce replied groggily.

"Actually… seize the afternoon. It's nearly 4 and you've got three missed calls from Ms. Madison." Alfred said as he picked up a stranded pillow from the carpet and held it as Bruce began to stir around.

"Ah, crap!" Bruce said, bolting up and running for his phone.

"Did you talk to Ms. Isley last night?"

"Yes. And now, I'm more worried than ever." Bruce replied.

* * *

"Pamela. We need to talk about Victor." Batman said as he hid in the shadows of Pamela Isley's office.

"Ah! Bruce! You can't scare me like that. You know there's nobody here." Pamela replied, pushing a stray string of bright red hair from her eyes as she saw the Dark Knight behind her.

"I have to stay alert. Helps me keep my demeanor." Batman replied, stepping from the darkness with his cape draped over his body, leaving only his cowl visible in the pale green light.

Victor Fries' laboratory was obviously cold due to the cryogenics technology but since Pamela had moved into the spare office, her room was always a slightly uncomfortable 80 degrees Fahrenheit due to the plant life that surrounded her. With her doctorate degree in botany, Pamela was hopeful that with the help of foreign plant life, they could find a cure for MacGregor's syndrome and possibly the extra complications that followed the terminal disease.

During the first few months of Bruce's crusade against crime, he went against a troubled man with a motive behind his crimes. Robert London. He was a former Wayne Enterprises employee until he was laid off under the orders of Browning Perry, the second-in-command behind Lucius. London was broke and his wife died because of money shortages that couldn't allow him to buy medication. After a few intense battles with London and his crew that were also laid-off employees of WE, Bruce's relationship with a secretary named Francine came to a head when she and her sister, Pamela were kidnapped by his crew.

When Bruce was willing to risk it all for Francine, he was able to talk down London and turn himself in. Bruce had given him the promise that no matter what, he would find the inside man working in Wayne Enterprises but their tracks were too well covered. During the confrontation, Bruce revealed his identity to both Francine and Pamela. While Francine left to pursue a job in Metropolis, Pamela stayed to continue her research on plant life sciences. Bruce had kept tabs on her (mostly to make sure she wouldn't reveal his identity) during the last months and he had asked her to watch over Victor Fries who was guilty of several liquid nitrogen heists.

"Sure. What about Victor?" Pamela replied, crossing her arms and taking off her glasses.

"How is his research with CryoTechnics? Any fresh deposits of tanks off the books?" Batman asked plainly.

"No." Pamela said with annoyance in her voice.

Batman turned his head slightly and raised an eyebrow inside his cowl.

"What's with the defensive tone?" he asked, sensing a suspicious feeling.

"I just don't like you accusing him. His wife is nearly dead, the government is sending threats, and the press are worse than criminals."

"Hm. I suppose." Batman replied, nonchalantly putting his finger to his right temple and watching the I.V.F. activate, her heart rate beating rapidly.

She was nervous about the things he was asking about. Was he threatening her? Or was she getting too attached?

"Victor is very complicated. He's working hard, okay? Just let him try." Pamela said.

"Try? Pamela, this man lead a heist that led to an innocent security guard being killed. He may be in a dire situation but don't start thinking he's not a criminal. He did wrong and he has to pay for it. I gave him this chance so he could find a cure. The cure will save thousands and he can go to prison with the thought that he's a hero. It's not right… but justice is my priority." Batman said.

"So… that's your plan? Trap him, use him, and then jail him? What a _hero_." Pamela replied with disgust in her last word.

"Have you grown attached to him? Do you have feelings for him?" Batman asked after a short pause.

Pamela shook her head and scoffed. As she tried to put on a convincing poker face, Batman saw straight through the lie. He knew the truth. Their work relationship was starting to evolve into something else. That had to stop now.

"I'll be back in a week. No progress… I'm taking him in. Goodnight, Pamela." Batman said as he watched the doctor turn her head and give a angry laugh.

"Bruce. Before you go…" she said, turning around to see a dark corner where he had just been.

She shook her head again and eyed the experimental cryo-suit that sat in its glass chamber just outside her office. _Oh well_, she thought. _I'll just save it for the next time._

* * *

Bruce swiped his index finger on the wall touchpad and stepped inside, a massaging rhythm of hot water beating on his back as he entered the shower and closed the glass door. He sighed in relief as the water helped sooth his many bruises and healing injuries. He washed his hair with a dime-sized squirt of shampoo and replayed his conversation with Pamela. There was a problem now. A personal one. If she got too close, there's no telling what the damage could be.

After the brief two minute shower, Bruce slid the door open, the bathroom fogged out with steam and last night's injuries. He grabbed a towel from a shelf near the sink and dried his body off as Alfred rapped the door lightly.

"Sir, what would like for breakfast? You'll be on the run so I figured you might want something quick."

"Um… chicken salad with a protein shake." Bruce replied as he wrapped the towel around his midsection and got out shaving scream.

"Pineapple cucumber or orange breeze?" his butler asked.

"Orange." Bruce replied, giving a small smile as Alfred walked off.

Here was the Batman, Gotham's Dark Knight… tell his butler what kind of shake he preferred. Then again, he was only human.

* * *

"We still on, Julie?" Bruce asked as he walked out of Wayne Manor, the sun touching the tip of Wayne Enterprise on the giant island ahead of him.

"Let me guess… you just woke?" Julie answered with a smile.

"Yes ma'am, I did. Long night but I'm trying to keep my promises."

"Good. I'm glad to hear it." she said.

"So, what time at the Royal?" Bruce asked as he unlocked the door to his brand-new sports car purchased a week earlier.

"8:30 sound reasonable?" she asked as she clearly whistled for a taxi.

"Sure. I'll be done way before then. I'll see you soon." Bruce said with a smile on his face as he started his car.

As she hung up, her smile could be felt just like every other phone conversation between the two of them. Bruce ended the call first and sat in his car briefly to watch the sun rise. As he sat in a rare tranquil atmosphere, across town, Doctor Fries was in a very different atmosphere.

* * *

"To what temperature can the suit withstand, Doctor?" a Wayne Enterprises executive asked as Browning Perry looked around with suspicion.

"Negative 150 degrees Fahrenheit… give or take a degree." Victor replied as he placed the helmet on the gigantic suit that raised his height by eight inches, making him well over 6'8.

The suit was almost entirely a chrome-silver color that glimmered from the lights above the lab. It had many intricate sections that criss-crossed each other and led the bright blue liquid to commute through the suit's most important workings or so-called "organs". The suit was four inches thick yet allowed more than enough mobility for a scientist to safely observe a sub-zero environment without any discomfort in temperature. The back of the suit contained an oxygen tank that fed through the back of the neckpiece as no airways could be open to make the suit truly safe.

The helmet was similar to the military headgear worn that showed heat waves on humans or other subjects and had a targeting feature, though scientifically repurposed to inject, investigate, or grab objects of interests instead of shooting them. Fries' voice could be heard through a microphone that shot sound through speakers below the giant helmet that looked like one half of a fish bowl for the visor and a knight's headgear in the back.

"Wow… its amazing." the executive said as Victor powered it up and began to walk around, the ground shaking with every step he took inside the 200-pound suit.

"Thank you, Mr. Jones. I owe it to my team. They worked out all the math and flaws in it." Victor replied, turning his head to his cryo team who stood with pride as they flashed a smile for the WE businessmen and women.

"Aw, c'mon, Iceman. You know you did all this." the nitrogen specialist, Erin Sale said.

Fries didn't reply but gave a nod to her and the rest of the team.

"And thank you all…" Fries said, turning his body to the Wayne Enterprises business people and holding out his gigantic metal hand to each of them.

"It wouldn't have been possible without your help and Mr. Wayne's. I'm guessing he won't be here but please give him my gratitude. This is all because of his hospitality and hope for the future." Fries said as he shook all the executives' hands, feeling a lump in his throat as Browning Perry gave him a slightly sinister smile.

"Yes…" he said, shaking the gloved hand as hard as he could.

"Something like that."

Victor, like most of Gotham wasn't a fan of Perry. He was slightly heavyset, had graying black hair that was slicked back to perfection, and a pair of glasses that he never seemed to wear as they always rested inside his breast pocket. He only wore dark blue and grey suits, flashed a new expensive watch every other week, hosted multiple charity events a month at his penthouse in Central Gotham, and always seemed to be Bruce Wayne's handler in the money sense.

"Anyhow… now I will give a demonstration on how the suit operates and how it allows us to upgrade or fix Nora's equipment without causing possible damage to the CryoTech chamber." Victor explained as he walked over to the giant freezing room where she was kept 24/7.

"How does the suit move? I can see some liquid flowing all across it. How does it not freeze?" a female executive asked, pointing her lowered glasses at one of the flowing clear streams of phosphorescent blue liquid.

"I'm guessing you're aware that alcohol doesn't freeze?" the doctor asked as he clicked a button inside a sliding panel on his left forearm.

The executives all nodded.

"Well, neither does our compound. It's needed to lubricate the special gears and organs of the suit. Of course, they are not really organs but it's just a simpler name for the purpose they serve. The provided the power need to generate the energy that courses through the suit." the computer analyst, a middle-aged man named Jack Drake.

The cryo team led the executives to the other side of the freezing room, a giant window that showed the equipment that kept Nora alive. Her figure could barely be seen inside the chamber where she was kept. Frost covered most of her transparent viewing window and the machines hummed rhythmically with a faint blue light. Frosty mists blew all around as Victor entered the main room after sealing himself inside the second chamber. He walked around slowly as the men and women watched as the suit was instantly covered in frost and saw Victor struggle to move as ice blocked up his joints.

Pamela Isley had stayed in the background of the group but winced and nearly ran up to the glass as Victor was frozen solid in place. She tapped her foot in anticipation and she watched the Wayne businessmen and women look at each in disappointment.

"Um… what's happening, ma'am?" the women executive asked.

"Well…" Erin replied, quickly opening her tablet and checking the readings on Victor's suit which gave all the system statuses and location of the suit.

"The temperature has just reached negative 140 degrees."

"Hm. A little off from what the good doctor told us." Perry added in, watching as Fries struggled to move around, his face visibly strained from inside the visor.

Pamela watched in desperation as she saw what Victor was about to do. He was going to activate the emergency feature or as the cryo team called it: The Last Resort Option. She bit her lip and watched as the doctor held his breath and flipped up the panel on his left forearm with all his strength, ice bits crumbling from the joints in his elbow creases and shoulders.

"No… no." she said quietly, getting the attention of Jack who motioned slowly over to her.

"What's wrong?" Jack asked with a panicked voice.

"Last resort."

Those were the only two words he needed to hear. He whispered in Erin's ear as she took a deep breath as all seven people watched patiently as they saw small flaps on the suit flap up suddenly and violently. Perry looked over at Pamela and gave her a scowl before looking at the frozen doctor.

"Anyone got a chisel?" Perry chuckled before watching the ice blast away from the suit, pieces of heavy ice hitting the window.

Pamela gave a smile as she saw Victor rise from his kneeling position and take a deep breath. The rest of the people in the lab showed visible relief, except for Perry, who saw opportunities for money and fame.


	8. Big Smiles

"That was a brilliant demonstration, Doctor Fries. We'll make millions with your work." Perry said, shaking Victor's hand as he stepped off the step ladder in his grey, skintight underwear suit.

The cryo suit was still emitting thick wisps of extremely cold air and the blue liquid slowed to a stop as the suit powered down. The dome visor slid back down as Fries gave a nod to Jack and saw as he pressed a button on the company tablet. Fries sighed as he looked once more at Nora's chamber and firmly shook his advisor's hand.

"Thank you, Mr. Perry. We've worked extremely hard to bring this to life. I just want to help Nora and others with her disease. With the suit, we can closely analyze the affected cells in stasis and see the extent of the damage MacGregor's causes." Fries said as the other executives came to shake his hand.

They all had big smiles on their faces and left with the same expression save for Perry, who dropped his smile as his business friends left with Pamela and the rest of the team. Victor took the tablet from Jack Drake and went over the bio-metric readings on the suit as Perry laid a big hand on his left shoulder. Victor sighed to himself and put his glasses on, not taking his eyes from the readings as Perry tapped his shoulder.

'Yes, Mr. Perry?"

"This really is great, Victor. It's amazing and we are decades ahead of what our predecessors could've ever dreamed of. You deserve something. And I'd like to give it to you." Perry replied as Victor blinked hard and turned his head.

"Give me what?"

"How… how much do you make a year, Victor?"

"I haven't taken a salary since I began working for Nora's cause but last I saw, it was around 120 a year. Give or take a few thousand with the extra things I helped with." Victor said, seeing where the conversation was heading.

"Well… how would you like to add two zeros to that salary?" Perry said plainly.

Victor's heart skipped a beat and he chuckled, locking the tablet and holding it by his side.

"Mr. Perry… my work may be influential... but I'll never be making twelve million dollars a year. I'd have to cure every disease on Earth to get close." Victor replied.

"Maybe… maybe not." Perry said, leaning against a lab table.

"Where are you going with this, Browning?"

"Doctor… I don't know if you noticed but this world's changing. People are looking to men in capes for help, clowns and jetpack riding freaks are controlling crime, and the normal people like me and you are struggling to keep up. And now, Wayne Enterprises and a few others are trying to combine and stay ahead of the curve." Perry explained.

"Yes?"

"I want you to use your tech to make weapons for the U.S. government, Victor. Plain and simple." Perry answered.

Victor shook his head and gave Perry a stern look.

"No, Browning. I made these tools for the good of mankind… they will not be used for those lawmakers to decide who's truly human. I refuse. And no amount of money will get me to agree. Goodbye." Victor said, walking away from Perry and toward his office.

"What if I cut your funding completely? I'll pull the plug, Victor. Don't tempt me." Perry said, his voice becoming dark.

Victor turned around and stared at Perry with red in his vision.

"I'd like to see you tr-." Victor began before Perry pulled out his phone.

"I pressed speed-dial… it's all over. And accidents happen all the time." Perry laughed.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Victor growled, tossing his tablet on the ground, shattering the front.

"I'm a patriot, doctor. I'll do whatever it takes to keep this country safe."

"No. You'll do whatever it takes to have money in your bank account."

"Believe whatever you want to but listen here… you are one of the greatest scientific minds alive today and we need you. I have the power to keep your wife alive so what's your choice?" Perry said.

Victor growled again and looked at the floor.

"You're keeping me hostage."

"Would a hostage taker give his victim 12 million dollars? I don't think so." Perry laughed.

"I don't give a shit about the money. You're threatening to kill my wife!"

"Yes. So what's it going to be? You wanna fall down like the others or survive and end up with more money than you know what to do with?" Perry asked, putting his phone away.

"The others?" Victor asked while turning his head.

"Oh yes. Wayne, the plant department, a few higher-ups… they're going down. We're cleaning up this city and it's going to be a reawakening. Which side do you want to take? Hm? And don't tell me you think you're being the hero because you're not. So… do you want to be rebellious or do you want to be a part of the new age?" Perry asked.

Victor's mind was racing. What was he now a part of? There was no escape and if he did, Nora would die. What other choice did he have?

"Give me a day. I'll have made my decision." Victor said, turning his head and picking up the broken tablet as Perry smiled again.

"Good. I'll be back tomorrow. Good luck, doctor."


	9. Detective Mode

"What kind of guy do you think we're dealing with, Nashton? You're usually good with motives." Harvey Bullock asked Detective Nashton as he sipped his coffee and waited for the victim, Jonathan Summers to finish his testimony.

He watched him through the two-way mirror at the GCPD building and gave a sly smirk that no one else noticed. He knew that Summers had no clue of the truth. The man had just been buried alive and had the lights scared out of him. The captor would never be found. Although he deserved to die… more than Ms. Tremblay, but he had solved the riddle and Nashton remained true to his word.

"I don't know. He let this guy live. I don't get it." Edward replied as he sat down his cup on the table outside the interrogation room.

"I know. Apparently… Summers got the riddle right so he let him go. I guess he was just going to let him die in that coffin thing. Pretty brutal." Bullock answered.

"Wow. What about those pictures we found of him… killing those people?" Nashton asked with a pause.

"Oh... he's going to prison; that's for sure. But we just need to get more info on the Enigma guy. Jonathan Summers is a mob enforcer and who knows how many he's killed. This _Enigma _may be a killer and have a screw loose… but he's kind of like a vigilante." Bullock said as the newly appointed Captain James Gordon walked in the room.

"There he is… Eddie… I don't believe you and Jim have met. Jim, this is Eddie Nashton. He's a good detective. Reminds me of you." Bullock continued, introducing the two officers to each other.

"Hello, Captain. I've heard a lot of you. Good things, don't worry." Eddie said with a charming smile as he firmly shook Gordon's hand.

"That's good. Unless you've heard it from this guy." Gordon laughed as he returned the gesture.

"Ha. You investigating this Enigma too, Captain?" Nashton asked.

"Yes. The commissioner has asked me to oversee the case. I trust Detective Bullock's words. Do you want to be lead detective along with him?" Gordon asked, trying out his new authoritative powers.

"Why… why yes, sir. I'd be honored." Nashton said with a smile.

"Good. Welcome to the team."

* * *

Bruce was in his office at WayneTech, looking at Captain Gordon's first statement on the death-trap murder case from two nights ago. He clicked on the video player and listened intently, making sure his blinds were shut and his door locked.

"Captain! Captain! Who was the victim?" Marc Foster, reporter at GCN asked as the camera zoomed in at Gordon's face, his nose crinkling in front of all the press.

"Well… we haven't located any next of kin at this time so I cannot give the names out just yet. When we reach a family member, I assure you that you'll be the first to know." Gordon replied.

"What did the murderer do to kill his victim?" another GCN reporter asked.

"He used a very intricate trap that involved charcoal and a pulley system. He made the victim try to solve a riddle as part of some game of his. We are trying our best to track the murderer down by evidence and voice recognition. My sources say that we are extremely close to finding our suspect." Gordon answered.

_No they're not. They just want to save face and act like they're doing something useful just so the people of Gotham don't panic. This is pathetic._

"So… could we call this man the… Riddl-?" Bruce heard Marc Foster say before stopping the video.

He had seen enough. There was a new psycho in town and the police were drawing a blank. Just as Bruce was about to switch his mind into detective mode, he realized the one promise he had made today. He had to go to dinner with Julie. He couldn't… no matter what the circumstances… miss that dinner. Once again, here was the Dark Knight of Gotham, trapped by a girl and a date.


	10. Dinner

***This is probably going to sound crazy or just plain stupid but in my mind, I see Bryan Cranston from shows like Malcolm in the Middle and Breaking Bad (with hair like in the 2014 Godzilla film) as Victor Freeze. He's a great actor, has a commanding voice, and knows how to balance acting like a souless monster and gaining sympathy at the same time. **

* * *

_I knew he'd be late. What else was I expecting? If he's not here in another five, I'm leaving. I hate it but he'll just have to read about it. But… he deserves to know. He deserves to know that-._

"Sorry. Traffic's terrible." Bruce said as he laid a big hand on Julie's left shoulder and startled her as she thought.

He saw her jump and laugh shortly after. Bruce was puzzled as he took the seat across from her, the table only the size of a car tire. He moved the napkin dispenser so she could see his face and he held her hand briefly before sitting down completely. He combed his short hair back and straightened his tie before speaking.

"How are you doing tonight? You look nice." Bruce asked.

Julie's brown hair was straightened and glowed from the lights inside the restaurant. Bruce could tell that she had bought the dress today as seen by the near-invisible strap that stuck out a bit from her neckline. The dress was navy blue and was fitted to stretch along the perfect curves of her body. Her earrings matched perfectly as they hung from a crystal hook and glistened like her hair as well. She wore a pearl bracelet on her right hand and Bruce was briefly reminded of his mother's own pearl necklace that she lost the night her and Thomas Wayne were mugged and murdered.

"Good, Bruce. And you?" Julie replied.

"Fine, I guess. A little nervous to be honest."

The both of them held an awkward silence and after ten seconds of complete inaudible noise, Bruce tapped the table and pointed at Julie as she rubbed her forehead slowly.

"So? How's your job been going?" Bruce asked.

"Good. Just got a job working on a movie that's filming in Star City next week after we head to Coast for a contract. It's supposed to evolve into a film series, I think." Julie replied, biting her lip for a moment in nervousness.

"That's great! Great..." Bruce said, his fake happiness fading away when he saw Julie's emotions.

Julie looked up and was about to speak before the waiter, nicely dressed with a bow tie and pressed suit walked over.

"How would you two like to start your dinner tonight at the Royal?" the waiter asked.

Bruce and Julie both knew what they were thinking.

"Just give us a few minutes please." Bruce said.

"Of course, sir. In the meantime, what would you two like to drink?" he asked with a wide smile.

"I'll have a water with lemon. Bruce?" she replied, eyeing Bruce.

"Um... a water also. No lemon." he said, giving a nod as the waiter walked off.

As he walked away, the table was silent; the crowd's hubub of conversations fading away as the two of them looked in each others eyes and could tell that something was wrong. Bruce saw that she kept fiddling with her hands in her lap and he tried to figure out what was triggering her nervous ticks. He knew she had something to tell him. Something that wouldn't benefit him. Bruce clicked his tongue as he ruffled around in his seat and saw Julie take a deep breath.

"I have something to tell you but maybe... it can wait until after dinner." Julie said quietly.

"Julie... seriously? How can you expect me to eat dinner while saying something like that? That's not fair." Bruce replied with a scoff.

Julie closed her eyes for a moment and tears began to well up. She licked her lips and waited a moment before shaking her head in regret.

"I'm getting married, Bruce. I'm sorry." she said suddenly.

Bruce sat back in his seat and his heart felt like it had been shocked by 1000 amps. He felt his stomach flip and he began blinking rapidly. He gave a small laugh and looked at Julie's hand as she placed it on her silverware and napkin. On her ring finger lay a tungsten metal band with three diamonds encrusted on a small base. His smile vanished and he looked at the ring intently before his eyes met Julie's once again.

"I thought we were working on this? What... what happened?" Bruce asked.

"I... I don't know. I really don't. I just happened to meet him and he... fulfilled things for me that... that..." Julie replied, beginning to draw a blank.

"Things that I could never do..." Bruce said, nodding in anger that hardly showed.

"Don't take it that way... okay? I just moved on." she said with tears about to fall down.

"Who is he?" Bruce asked in a stern tone.

"That's not important, right now. I just wanted to tell you about the we-."

"Who...is... he?" Bruce interrupted.

Julie scoffed and crossed her arms.

"You don't know him. He's from Central City, okay? He's not famous but we met on a plane. It's too hard to explain, okay?" she said.

"Fine." Bruce said simply while sticking his tongue against his cheek.

"What's his job?" he continued with more than a tinge of jealousy.

* * *

"I promise, Nora. We will cure you. If it's the last thing I do." Victor Fries said inside the cryo suit, replacing a coolant container from the machine that kept his wife cryogenically frozen.

The chamber lit up blue once the container had locked itself in place and Fries checked the readings. They were steady and her heartbeat was barely traceable. She was clinging on to life, putting her whole faith that her husband would find a cure and bring her back. But now, the limits had been pushed too far. He had been forced to become a drug dealer and possibly... a corrupt scientist who'd be forced into a cowardly hostage situation. He continued to look over his wife's cryo chamber as Pamela came in, looking dazed and in a hurry.

"Victor... can you come in quickly? I need to talk to you." Pamela said through a radio that blared through Fries' visor.

"Sure. Let me the coils in the back and I'll be right in, alright?" Victor replied.

He peered behind Nora's machine and saw that the coils remained the same, heated to a certain extent where the fluids keeping her alive would continue to commute across without freezing. He checked the temperature gauges and nodded in acceptance as he left the giant chamber. He walked over to the first set of doors while giving one last look at Nora, giving a small smile as he turned his head away and saw Pamela in nervous excitement by the window. He sealed the doors shut behind him and waited ten seconds before the vents sucked most of the extreme polar air from the room and walked forward. Pamela opened the next set of doors and stepped back, visible air condensing and evaporating into nothingness moments later. She followed him as walked over to the chamber and powered down the suit. After he felt the visor/helmet contraption unlock, he took a deep breath and Pamela dragged a lever on the cryo tablet all the way down, the two separate pieces of his chest pieces and overall suit flip outward, exposing the skintight suit Victor wore. She looked at him nervously and cleared her throat as she took off her horn-rimmed glasses.

"Victor... you're in trouble." she said after a deep breath.

"What do you mean? What do you know?" he replied.

"I've... I've hid a bad thing from you." Pamela said.

Victor looked up and felt his heart begin to beat hard.

"I've been in contact with... the Batman. He wanted me to help you develop a cure but he... he knows about the incident at the dock with those men! How you killed that man!" Pamela said, tears forming at the end of her eyes.

"I didn't kill him. Phil shot him in cold blood! How do you know about the Batman? What have you been doing?" Victor replied, slamming the table hard and getting close to Pamela's face.

Pamela backed up and began to cry. She watched as Victor's eyes narrowed and he screamed loudly, throwing the tablet against the wall and sliding all the research off the metal table. He yelled in anger and began punching the table as Pamela screamed and grabbed his shoulder in an attempt to calm him down. He shoved her off him and she fell to the ground. He turned to her and watched as she brushed stray red hair from her eyes. He stood above her and she could hear his knuckles crack loudly as he clenched both fists.

"Do you... realize what you've done?" Victor said quietly, the anger making him shake and convulse.

"Victor... I didn't want to help you. My plants are my life and I didn't want to share them. But the strains were producing were working! And then, I fell in love with you. I love you, Victor and that's why I'm telling you this!" Pamela said tearfully, backing up as she stood up and Victor stood in an unnatural stance.

"I don't care." Victor spat.

Pamela began quivering her lips and tears streamed down her eyes. She stood up and began to laugh in anger.

"You... don't... care? What a selfish bastard..." she said to herself, turning around and shaking her head.

"Selfish? I'm selfi-? How am I selfish? I'm trying to save my wife who _I_ love! I don't love you. You were a great addition to our team and we could've saved lives! But now... it's all over! I'm going to jail, Pamela! Do you know what Perry's done to me? He said he'd shut down the whole project unless I made cryogenic weapons for him! This... this is all for nothing!" Victor responded, inching closer to Pamela as she grabbed something from a nearby lab table.'

"_Nora_. Nora. Nora. Nora! Nora! Poor little Nora! She's dead, Victor! The cure will not be ready in time!" Pamela yelled, walking close to Victor, one hand stretched out.

"You don't know that! Are you out of your mind? You've sent a vigilante out for my head! I'll kill a man before letting them kill my wife." he yelled back, stepping back and knocking over a refrigerator full of cryo fluids that spilled onto the floor.

Victor didn't even notice, full of absolute rage and shock. Pamela had lost her mind. Her crazed love for him had cost them everything. All the research wasted. All the money and time waster. It was all for nothing due to one stupid girl.

"She's not your wife anymore, Victor. She's in a coma, you deranged idiot! I'll prove it to you. She's dead, _Mister Fries_!" Pamela said in a mocking voice, running over to the chamber and opening the first door.

"No!" Victor yelled, running at her as she turned around.

She revealed an ice pick and slashed it across his face, blood flying across the wall as he slammed into it. The cold air numbed most of the pain but he still screamed, watching her drop the ice pick and run for her office across the laboratory. He looked at her and his eyes saw red. He leaped up and ran for her, grunting in pain as she slammed her door shut and looked for her cell phone. Victor kept punching and kicking the door outside as the cold air continued to seep into the laboratory.

* * *

"Okay... you know his job, name, place of birth, parents, what else could you want?" Julie asked as the waiter stood awkwardly for them to finish.

"Criminal record." Bruce said sternly.

"Bruce, please." Julie said with an annoyed groan.

"Um... excuse me..." the waiter said suddenly during a millisecond of silence.

"Would you guys like to order now?"

* * *

Blood dripped to the floor as Victor continued to pound on the door and he screamed loudly. Finally, he heard the wood splinter and he kicked it open, Pamela screaming and dropping her phone. Victor grabbing her flailing arms and pushed her onto the desk. He was breathing hard and flipped on the lights, taking the phone and smashing it.

"Do you really understand what you've done? Hm? You've killed your future... my wife... and me."

"No... me and you can be together. She would want you to be happy." Pamela said, touching the giant wound that reached from the corner of Victor's left eye to his chin.

He smacked her hand away and slammed it on the table.

"Don't you dare act like you know her!" Victor yelled loudly, hoisting her up and growling.

"Victor; why are you acting like this? Who are you?" Pamela cried as he began to choke her.

"I'm not Victor anymore. I'm a man with nothing to lose. You've cost me everything. My days of hope are over." Victor replied, eyeing a tropical diorama enclosed in a glass tank behind Pamela's desk.

"There still is hope." Pamela said as her face turned purple.

"Not for me..." he said with a look of great desperation and last resort.

"Or you."

With that last statement, he tossed her into the tank, watching as the poisonous condensation covered her along with the leaves, small pool of mutated water, and glass. She screamed in pain as the specialized plants activated their defense mechanisms, spitting out poison through their pores, coating Pamela in a green and viscous fluid. He watched for a moment as her skin turned a light green and a large vine began wrapping around her neck and left arm. He sighed and looked at her again, this time, his look changed. He noticed she was no longer screaming or breathing. He bent down to his knees and shook his head in sadness and shock.

"Oh my God. Wha... what have I done?" he cried, tears flowing from his face and blending with the blood in his wound.

He saw Pamela's lifeless eyes, her body transformed and poisoned by the own plants she had loved so much. Victor stood up and tripped over the knocked over chair. He ran out of the office and closed the broken door the best he could, going into a massive panic attack as he looked at the destruction all over the lab. He began breathing heavily and he sat on the ground, dragging himself to the side of the overturned table and looking at Pamela's door.

"No. Oh, God. No. No! No!" he screamed, hiding his hands in his face and crying loudly.

He looked at his wife's chamber inside the room, he saw that all of the cold air was being pumped into the lab and he began to shiver. He shook his head and decided that maybe, it would be better to die inside the lab where his wife would once all the cold air dissipated. He sat his head back hard and saw an overturned tray of various adrenaline syringes and morphine. He grabbed the entire tray and bit off the plastic tip of one of the needles. He stuck the needle inside his leg and took a deep sigh as he let the liquid flow into his system. After all the liquid had gone, he grabbed one of the morphine syringes and repeated the exercise. He wasn't going to let Perry take him down. It was going to be by his own terms. Just as he felt the drugs take hold, he watched as a green clearance light shone across the lab and the giant entrance door slid open. The visitors walked in. They were Browning Perry and three Wayne Enterprises security guards.


	11. Point of No Return

"We're not going to order anything, are we?" Julie asked.

"I guess not. I think I'll be going now. I don't want to be involved in this anymore. Have a good life. I have something to attend to." Bruce said, taking his first sip of his water after twenty minutes of tension and awkward silences.

"No. We're going to talk. I need to know where you go and what you do." Julie said, standing up, bumping the table and spilling the glass.

A couple across from them gave Bruce a stern look and he ignored it, straightening his tie and laying down a twenty dollar bill on the table. Julie walked in front of him as he picked up his suit jacket and he sighed. He licked his lips and gave an annoyed laugh that sounded threatening.

"Julie. Get out of my way."

"No. Tell me what you do when you go to these "business meetings". This is absolute bullshit." Julie said loudly.

"I told you... to get out of my way." Bruce said, his voice raising and gaining the attention of multiple occupants inside the Royal Hotel.

Julie grabbed his chest and shoved him back. In that moment, Bruce felt himself lose all control. He had been holding back all that rage, all that trust. He had been made weak by her. She brought him back to a child-like state. She took his heart and played it. She was nothing more than a bitch looking for attention. And he was done.

"I said..." he said through gritted teeth.

"GET OUT OF MY WAY!" he screamed, flipping over the small table and stomping out of the restaurant while Julie stood back in shock.

The people inside screamed in fear and watched as Bruce Wayne, famous playboy of Gotham, shoved a waiter out of his way and walked out into the streets.

* * *

"Fries? What in the hell-?" Browning Perry asked as he looked around the massive cryo lab and saw the wreckage, the injured scientist, and the near-subzero temperature that brought chills to the executive's spine.

Victor rose up from the side of the desk and stared at Perry.

"I've made my decision." he said, his voice sounding sinister and different in tone.

"I'm glad but what in the hell happened?" Perry asked, looking at the frosting wound on Victor's head.

Victor could barely stand, the morphine affecting his motor control and sending him into the spilled contents of the fallen fridge. The chemicals used to keep Nora in a fluid frozen sac drenched Victor and he could barely feel the pain as he stood up, flashes of white overtaking his vision as the guards drew their guns.

"Why... why are they here?" Victor asked in a dazed voice, looking up at Perry with a smile.

Perry's eyes widened as he watched Victor's skin turn a pale blue due to the chemicals and the extreme cold that had mixed together to form a freezing toxic mixture. He held onto Victor's shoulders and looked deep in his eyes as his flesh turned blue, reaching below his neck as his hair fell out and the pain began to take a hold on him. He screamed loudly as his hair fell out, brown tuffs of frosty hair falling out as he grabbed his head. He felt the chemicals affecting him on a muscular level, his skin becoming sunken in as the guards opened the door to Pamela's office and found her body lying inside the tank, plants and chemicals covering her.

"Sir... he went rogue!" Victor heard one of the guard's say as Perry looked at them.

Perry dropped Victor and Victor began to cry, not from the intense pain, but from the fact that their deal was now gone. He had become too much of a risk to negotiate or keep hostage. Victor pushed a long strand of hair from his face and looked at Nora's containment room. She would not die by Perry's hands. If she was going to die, Victor was going with her.

"Nora..." he said weakly, his hands turning the same pale color as his face as he crawled to the chamber.

He stood up weakly and grabbed another syringe of adrenaline, knowing the mix of drugs could possibly kill him. He stabbed the needle into his thigh and pressed the plunger in fast before tossing it out. He continued to crawl toward the chamber and growled at the intense cold that stung his face as the chemicals became stimulated by the subzero temperatures. He got up, feeling the drug take hold. He held onto one side of the wall and shut the door behind him, the guards and Perry only noticing then.

"Hey! Get him out of there and call the cops!" Perry yelled, pointing to the eerie-looking scientist.

Victor was shivering uncontrollably and groaned in pain as he opened the second door, the blast of sub-zero air stealing his breath and making him drop to his knees. Victor screamed loudly and stood up, watching as the guards struggled to get out their employee override cards. He walked over to Nora's container with all his strength, the ice-cold air making him gasp for air and struggle to move his weak body. He eyed the two tubes that were heated to allow the fluids to keep her alive and fell to the ground, almost too weak to rise again.

_"It's okay, Victor. I don't need the mustard right now." Nora Fries laughed as Victor dug around in his picnic basket for the bottle of yellow mustard._

_"Ugh... fine. Mrs. Fries." Victor said, happy to say his love's name and hear his surname at the end. _

_He picked up her hand and kissed her new ring. He sprawled out on the blanket as Nora laid on top of him. The sun was shining and birds were singing their own love songs. He looked at her face and smiled. Her bright blonde hair always made him smile and he loved looking deep into her dark green eyes. He loved the way her one left dimple popped out when she was truly happy and he always kissed it first before kissing her lips._

_"Are you glad you married a nerd like me?" Victor said, brushing back his younger brown hair and pushing the glasses to his head in a sarcastic nerd-like way._

_"Oh yes. Are you glad you married a ballerina who you dance better than?" Nora replied with a wink as they slowly rubbed each other's palms in the serene field just outside of Gotham._

_"Oh yeah..." Victor answered._

_"It's a good thing you're flexible." he continued with playful, sexual attitude._

_"Oh, really, Doctor?" she laughed loudly._

_"Oh, yes, Nora. My beautiful little redbud. I love you so much." he said, kissing her dimple before giving her a passionate kiss on the mouth._

_"I love you too. I don't know what I'd do without you."_

The cold, bitter reality hit Freeze with shock as he opened his eyes again, his tongue halfway frozen as he rose back up and grabbed hold of the tubes. He pulled on them as hard as they could and he screamed in pain, able to see the back of her head through the frost-covered glass. He began to cry painful tears that burned his skin, the stream of water almost instantly turning into strips of ice. He looked to his right as the door swung open, the guard running inside, screaming in pain, frostbite almost occurring immediately on his right cheek and both hands. He dropped his gun and fell to the ground outside of the room.

"Get out of here! You're not taking my Nora, you greedy bastard!" Victor yelled at Perry who stood with his jacket covering his face and a phone in his hand.

_Redbud_.

Fries pulled on the cords harder, placing his feet against the back of the container and straining his mutated muscles. He watched as a guard jumped for him, grabbing his right arm and pulling him back. Fries let go of the tubes and slammed the man's head against the wall, a large shard of ice breaking from the metal wall. Fries began kicking at the machine as the wind turbines inside the room began spinning, blowing even more painfully cold wind into the lab. Fries cried in pain and agony, feeling a strand of material breaking off from one of the tubes.

_Redbud_.

As he kept repeating the nickname he had for Nora, he felt another ounce of strength and used all the power he could, ripping the tubes out from their places inside and kicking apart the coils that kept the machine stable and active. When the coils broke apart, a giant ice explosion hit him head-on and he screamed in pain, the entire lab shaking from the force.

* * *

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Julie asked, grabbing Bruce's shoulder as they were a block from the Royal Hotel.

"Go be with your fiancé." Bruce said plainly, flipping up the collar on his jacket as a chilly wind began blowing fiercely.

"How old are you, Bruce? Hm? I wanted to tell my friend that I was getting married so why... why did it have to end up like this? I'm sorry, okay? I really am, Bruce. I wanted to be with you but you and I are just two different people. We don't... click. Okay?" Julie tried to explain as Bruce turned down a dark alley and shook his head.

"We don't click? What about our first time? You came over to the Manor, feeling something that you had never felt before. What was that? That... that was real..." Bruce said as she followed him through the shortcut of the alley.

"It was real, Bruce. That was love. But I'm not in love with you anymore." she said with regret clear in her voice.

Those last words hit him like a brick wall. She had taken his heart and chucked it across the universe. It was clear of her intentions and her feelings. There was nothing he could do about it. He turned around and looked deep into her eyes. He held her face tight and rubbed her chin.

"Look at me... and tell me you don't feel anything." Bruce said sternly.

Julie was about to say something but suddenly bit her lip and pushed Bruce's hands away. She was about to cry again and stopped when she noticed that people walking along the street were looking at the two of them. She wiped the microscopic tears from the corner of her eye and stared at Bruce. He looked back at her and stared at the moon above them.

"Listen... I know that you're the B-." she began after a moment before something hit Bruce in the back of the neck and he fell in front of her.

He was immediately weak in the knees and couldn't get back up as Julie bent down, touching his neck and pulling out a dart-like object that was the size of her pinky finger. Bruce dropped his cane and looked at it as she looked around in fear before trying to pick Bruce up. She gave him a look of deep despair and held his face before he saw a shadow creep around the wall.

_Oh no. Please don't do it!_ Bruce said to himself as he saw a man dressed in a hoodie step from the street and fire two shots at Julie's chest with a powerful pistol. Blood shot over the street and Bruce silently screamed as she looked at him and began to fall.

He groaned loudly as she fell to the ground and he looked at the man, seeing that his face was covered by a green bandana. He walked over to them and laid the gun inside Bruce's right hand. He couldn't lift it even as his life depending on it. While the man left silently from the scene of the crime, inside... Bruce was screaming.

* * *

When Fries opened his eyes, he slammed his right hand against the ground and noticed that he no longer felt cold. He thought for a moment that he was dying and having an intense hallucination until he saw Nora's container in front of him again. His right hand was shaking violently and Victor watched in bewilderment as small bits of ice circled around his fingertips for a second before dropping to the ground. He felt bits of frost flake off from his face and he saw Perry stand up, the police yelling on the opposite end. Victor looked as the entire lab was covered in giant ice walls, one blocking any access from Nora. She was safe. For now.

"Shoot him!" Perry commanded as a guard shook his head and grabbed his pistol.

Victor growled and ran at the man, bullets hitting and breaking off the thick ice attached to his right side. He watched as ice bits circled around his palm again and the guard stopped firing, watching ice appear from thin air and sit in Victor's hand. The doctor looked at him and tossed the ball of ice at him, knocking him back into Perry as Victor screamed loudly.

"Ah! What are doing? Shoot him, dammit!" Perry said to the other two guards.

Victor watched as a trail of ice followed him through the freezer and circle around both of his hands. He could feel the air traveling through his fingers and he gave a snarl before launching the ice blasts at the men. One of the men caught the bulk of it, a thick ice cover enclosing him and launching him into the 30-foot ceiling. He used the rest of the blast to send a ice shockwave at the guard, ice rings blowing at him as he flew toward Pamela's office. Victor turned to Perry who was crawling on the ground and gave a smile as he generated more ice.

"You wanted a weapon, Browning? How's this?" he asked with a dead stare.

"Lis- listen, Fries! I just brought them for your safety, okay? We weren't going to do anything!" Perry said, crawling backward with his hands up.

"Don't lie. It just makes you cold-hearted." Victor replied before kneeling down beside the executive and grabbing his neck.

A frostbite-like burn came from Victor's hand as he lifted Perry against a wall. He growled loudly and broke off a forgotten icicle that was created during the freezer explosion. He took the sharp point and slightly stabbed it into his chest before reaching far back and preparing to kill him. As he had the sharp icicle raised, a bullet shattered it and he turned backward, seeing six police officers with their weapons drawn.

"Hm. No trust." Victor said to himself, tossing Perry aside as he saw his cryo suit and ran for it.

He quickly jumped at his suit, pressing the manual button on the side of the holder and watching as the suit enclosed around him, a bullet deflecting on the suit's armor-like protective element. He formed icicles from his hands and struggled hard as he forced them through the armor and watched the icy knives stab through. He screamed loudly and fired ice blasts at the officers as Perry tried to stand. Using the suit's additional weight, Victor ran at the officers, knocking one over and sending him into the lab wall. He head butted another and saw Perry who grabbed a pistol and fired. Victor ignored the shots and picked up Perry.

"You were going to frame me? You bastard..." Victor said.

"Not... just you. Wayne's next on the list." Perry laughed, staring at Victor's blue face from the visor.

Victor shook his head as gunfire continued and the officers got closer.

"What are you planning?"

"Stick around and find out!" Perry replied as Victor stomped him to the ground.

Victor looked around in a split-second of clarity. His life was over. His work would be gone. He had killed a woman and several officers. He would never be a scientist again. Never have the ability to help people again. Nora couldn't be saved and neither could he. He was beyond the point of no return. He couldn't kill Perry and survive at the moment. He knew that. Bullets bounced off his suit but he could feel his body growing weaker and weaker with every millisecond that went by. Perry would pay. In blood. And with that thought, he gave one last look at Nora and charged through the door, leaving the lab and his previous life behind him.

* * *

Bruce stood up, sliding across the wall with the pistol still in his hand as he flipped onto the street. He watched as dozens of people screamed and a large man tackled him to the ground before taking the gun. He was about to punch Bruce again but the man saw Julie's body on the street. He gave Bruce a look and made three other civilians hold him down as he went to investigate.

"No! Don't you touch her!" Bruce screamed, tossing the civilians off himself with ease as he shoved the man out of the way and picked up Julie by her head.

Bruce screamed tearfully to the sky, holding her near-lifeless body as police sirens went off nearby. He pushed hair from her face and watched blood soak her beautiful dress and perfect hair. She looked at Bruce and held the side of his face. Tears fell on her soaked dress and she breathe uneasy as Bruce cradled her.

"No. Don't leave me! I'll find who did this. I swear to God!" Bruce said to her as she began to slip from life.

"It's okay, Bruce... you're... you're a good man. I was- I was trying to protect you." she said softly, blood falling from the corner of her mouth.

"Protect me from what?" Bruce said with tears drenching his face.

"From any more weaknesses. You don't need anymore things to worry about protecting. I di- didn't want to be your responsibility anymore. You don't deserve more pressure, Bruce." she replied, her breaths full of pain.

"What do you mean? I want- need you..." he replied.

"No. This city needs you... I know that you're... that you're the Batman." Julie said with a smile.

Bruce was shocked by the words, the tranquilizer almost disappearing completely from his system.

"Bruce," Julie laughed painfully.

"Did you really think I was that dumb? It's not a big head-scratcher."

"Julie... I'm so sorry." Bruce said, smiling for a moment before laying his lips against her head.

She gave a smile and held his head in her before she closed her eyes and started breathing slowly.

"I love you..." Bruce said as a tear fell from his face.

As he cried loudly, the people on the streets parted as police officers arrived suspiciously quick to the scene, drawing their weapons and ordering Bruce to stand away from his love's body. And all he could do was cry.


End file.
